(QUICK NOTE: Underlined dialogue is in Arabic.)
The winds were calm tonight, as they seldom were in the City of the Dead. Atop a black horse, Ardeth rode slowly around the mostly barren landscape before him. The only hints left to betray any trace of Hamunaptra's existence were a few downed obelisks and other structures scattered throughout the otherwise empty sands, but the Medjai knew better. The Creature still lay buried somewhere beneath these sands, and it would still fall to the Medjai to make sure he stays that way, guarding the necropolis as they and their ancestors had for more than 3,000 years. But for now, thanks in no small part to the treasure hunters who'd just recently defeated the Creature, all seemed to be calm.
"Ardeth." Called a voice not too far away. Turning to face the source, Ardeth quickly recognized
his father riding toward him on another horse.
"Father... What is it?" Ardeth asked as Sohail Bay slowed to a stop next to him.
"It is getting late; the people are becoming worried." Sohail replied.
"Is something troubling you? The Creature is back in his grave, but you act as though he might rise up at any moment."
"I don't think I can do this, Father." Ardeth said thoughtfully after a moment, just as a faint breeze began to pick up.
"You and every Commander before you kept the Creature safely buried, because you were willing to do whatever it took to keep him buried at any cost. But after the Creature rose from his grave on my watch, and after everything else I've seen since then... I don't think I can do that anymore. Too much innocent blood has been shed here..."
"It's true that most of the men don't approve of how you handled the situation." Sohail said.
"How you let the surviving foreigners live."
"It was the least I could do for them." Ardeth replied firmly, straightening up.
"They defeated the Creature; they succeeded where we failed."
"And if you hadn't let O'Connell go three years prior, or if you had killed him and his English employers when they came here, the Creature might never have been defeated. He might still be wandering this Earth, leaving the same destruction in his wake as he did when you faced him." Sohail explained, just as firmly.
"For more than 3,000 years, we thought the deaths of a few innocents was the lesser evil compared to the risk of letting the Creature rise again. But you proved that we don't need to resort to such bloodshed; the others don't quite understand this yet, but I do."
Ardeth looked surprised; those had been his thoughts exactly, but he hadn't expected anyone else among his people to understand as much, let alone agree with him. Sohail just smiled.
"You've been Commander for barely a few years, Ardeth, but already you've shown more strength than I could ever have hoped for. I am proud of you, my son." Sohail said, placing a hand on Ardeth's shoulder.
"Come; your mother is waiting for us back at camp."
As they both left Hamunaptra and began to ride home, Ardeth noticed the night sky becoming just a little darker, as though the stars themselves seemed to fade away one by one. Another breeze picked up, stronger than before, and suddenly several bright yellow eyes appeared and charged at them, frightening their horses.
"Those are the Creature's minions; I've fought them before." Ardeth said to his father, immediately recognizing the black bodies camouflaged in the dark of the night. The strange sword with the Eye of Horus symbol on it appeared in his hand as he charged at the beasts, felling several of them as his father proceeded to do the same.
But then suddenly a shot rang out, narrowly missing Ardeth, but distracting him enough that he fell off of his horse.
"Ardeth!" Sohail cried out. It was the last thing Ardeth heard before everything went black.
By the time Ardeth came to, he was clearly no longer in Egypt. The streets and buildings of this place were unfamiliar to him, and the glowing signs written in English in some places were unusual in and of themselves. But Ardeth was in no mood for sightseeing; those yellow-eyed creatures were loose again! Where was his father; was he still fighting those things alone?! They might even be attacking his people now, for all he knew!
Getting up off the floor, Ardeth kept the Eye of Horus sword at the ready as he began trying to navigate these unfamiliar streets, passing by a young girl and a white-haired boy along the way.
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